


whiskey and a wry smile

by scarfy36



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 19:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19012504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarfy36/pseuds/scarfy36
Summary: It seems to be the norm for her Saturday night patrol to involve breaking up a fight at the Wild Pony.Jenna Cameron and Michael Guerin's first meeting.





	whiskey and a wry smile

**Author's Note:**

> title from Vital Signs by Frank Turner
> 
> A big thank you to Kit (loveonmanes on tumblr) for proofreading and cheering me on as I worked on this all week

It seems to be the norm for her Saturday night patrol to involve breaking up a fight at the Wild Pony, Jenna muses.

When they get inside there’s a brawl by the pool tables. While it’s unclear what started the fight, it’s clear who’s winning. Three older men have a younger man pressed against one of the tables.

“You swindled me, you piece of shit!” The oldest man is shouting in the younger man’s face while his friends hold an arm each to keep the man in place. The younger man doesn’t reply, simply taking the abuse with an amused smirk on his face. 

Jenna to has to shift her gaze to her feet to avoid tripping as she crosses the room. She looks up as she approaches the tables and sees the younger man is sporting a split lip and has shaken off his assailants to clock the older man square in the jaw. Jenna can’t help but be impressed by his right hook. If the sight of their uniforms wasn’t enough to break up their fighting, Hernandez shouting does the trick. 

There’s too many people to fit in their squad car so she radios for backup while Hernandez starts placing handcuffs on their perps. Their backup arrives quickly and the other unit takes the three older men back to the station, leaving the younger man in the backseat of Jenna and Hernandez’s car.

He’s unsteady on his feet, stumbling the few steps from the Pony into the car. Once he’s seated, he seems comfortable in the back of the car, indicating to Jenna that it’s not the first time his night out has ended this way. The ease with which he makes conversation with Hernandez could be another sign that he’s a regular at the station, but it could also be Roswell’s small town nature - it’s taken some adjustment for Jenna to live in a town where everyone seems to know each other. What surprises Jenna is the casual way Hernandez replies to the man in the backseat. She’s used to chatty criminals, especially when they were as drunk as this man, but rarely did officers answer back to them and ask questions of their own. 

The man asks about the dirt bike Hernandez got his son for Christmas, and Hernandez asks about the vintage car the man is apparently restoring. They’re almost back to the station when the man seems to notice Jenna for the first time.

“New partner, Hernandez?” the man asks, then addresses Jenna. “How are you liking Roswell?”

“She’s not my partner,” Hernandez shakes his head.

“Then who’s she working with? Not-”

“Yep.”

“Huh,” he muses. “Well, good luck. Where is he tonight, anyway?”

“He asked for the weekend off. Personal reasons.” 

The man in the backseat scoffs and shakes his head. “Of course he fucking did.”

\--

When they arrive at the station the desk clerk rolls her eyes and asks, amused, “again, Guerin?”

The man shrugs in response. 

They put him in the drunk tank and Jenna sits at her desk to start the paperwork. Hernandez surprises her by offering to take care of it.

“I’ll do this, can you call Max?” he says.

“Deputy Evans?” she asks, surprised. Sure, she hasn’t spent a lot of time with her new partner, what with her only recently starting and him requesting this weekend off, but it seems unlike Max to know someone like the man they just brought in.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you’re new to town. Guerin and Max are brothers.” Something on Jenna’s face must give her confusion away because Hernandez adds, “Or something. I don’t know if they’re blood related or what their deal is, but Max, Michael and Isobel all act like siblings so we just go with it.”

“Huh,” is all she manages before Hernandez turns his attention to the paperwork.

Still considering the new information, she dials the number listed for Max Evans.

“Evans,” he answers groggily.

“It’s Jenna Cameron here, sorry if I woke you. Hernandez asked me to call you-- we’ve just brought Michael Guerin in.”

Max sighs heavily through the line and she can hear the rustling of sheets in the background telling her she was correct when she guessed he was asleep. “Charges?”

“Drunk and disorderly, probably,” Jenna answers. “The other guy could press charges for assault, but Guerin has more of a case to press back so I doubt it.”

Max hums and there’s more rustling in the background. “I’ll be there soon. Thanks, Cameron.”

\--

She lets Max into the outer room of the drunk tank and Michael immediately rises to his feet. He sways a little but his rage is enough to steady him.

“Get the fuck out of here, Max,” he shouts. 

“Michael,” Max begins, his eyes the definition of ‘I’m not mad, just disappointed.’

“It’s not even my fault I’m in here, you know? They were tourists in the locals bar, it’s not my fault they thought I’d be bad a pool,” Michael speaks over whatever Max planned to say, quick to defend himself against his brother. 

“So you’re gambling again?” Max asks, disapproval heavy in his tone. 

“I do what I have to to get by,” Michael responds.

“Please tell me you’re not, uh,  _ cheating _ too?” Jenna notes the pause and the strange emphasis he puts on the word. “I know you’ve been spiking your drinks-”

“Of course I’m not  _ cheating _ ,” Guerin puts air quotes around the word with his hands - well, hand. The fingers of his left hand don’t seem to have much range of motion, Jenna notices. 

“Fine, but still, getting high and blackout drunk in public?”

Michael’s face falls into a neutral mask and his voice turns to ice. Jenna suppresses the urge to take a step back from the man in the cell. “You do  _ not _ get to judge me this weekend. I know you know what today is, that’s why you asked for it off, right? You’re just as guilty as I am-”

“Michael!” Max cuts him off.

“So what if I need to get wasted to get through the day? It’s better than pretending nothing happened, not that I can, anyway.” He lifts his left hand and Jenna sees the mess of scarring for the first time. “And Alex is in fucking Baghdad being a good little Daddy’s boy.” Michael is ranting now and Jenna is struggling to keep up. “And I can’t go to Isobel because I’m tired of lying to her face. This is the one day - I let myself have one day of the year where I wallow about all the shit that’s happened to me. Get a bottle or leave me the fuck alone, Max.”

“I know it hasn’t been easy for you-”

Michael cuts him off with a hysterical laugh. “You don’t know shit, Max. You have no goddamn idea.”

Max takes a deep breath before turning to Jenna, indicating for her to follow him out into the hallway. 

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Max says, running a hand through his hair. “It’s just,” he lifts a shoulder in a half shrug, “family stuff.”

“Yeah, no, of course,” she brushes away his apology. She knows complicated families.

“Has he been processed? It’s probably best if I take him home tonight.”

“Wait here, I’ll check with Hernandez,” she says.

“No, I’ll go,” Max offers. “I need talk to him about the charges anyway.” He pauses, forehead creased in thought. “Could you bring Michael a bottle of water or something? He’ll be so much easier to deal with if he sobers up.”

She nods and Max sends her a grateful smile. 

—

“Having a deputy for a brother has its perks,” Jenna says, offering Michael a bottle of water through the grates of the cell. He takes it and nods in thanks. “Y’know, I wouldn’t have picked the two of you as brothers.”

“I wouldn’t have picked him either,” Michael replies. “What’s that saying - you can’t choose your family?”

“Hmm,” Jenna muses, “I’m getting the impression you’re not close.”

“Lately, the only time I see him is when I’m in here. That is, unless he needs something, then he’s all over me like a goddamn rash.”

“Well, you could try getting arrested less often,” Jenna suggests.

Michael’s eyes widen like she’s just shown him the secrets of the universe. “You could be on to something there, Cameron.” 

“Just doing my job, reducing Roswell’s crime rate one family counseling session at a time,” she laughs. 

Michael has finished the rest of the water by the time Max returns from sorting his release with Hernandez. 

“Let’s go,” Max says tiredly as he unlocks the cell door. “I talked it down to a warning because Maria said the tourist threw the first punch.” 

Michael gives an exaggerated bow in thanks as he exits the cell.

“Thanks for the therapy session,” Michael winks at Jenna. “Let’s do it again sometime.”

“Let’s not,” Jenna replies with her most condescending smile.

She sees Max mouth the words ‘thank you’ over his brother’s head as he leads them out of the precinct. She sits down at her desk, and she’s there barely a minute before another call comes in. Hernandez tosses her the keys and she forgets all about Michael Guerin until the next time she picks him up off the floor of the Wild Pony.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at roswaliens and scarfy36 - come say hi!


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